


the one where things are not going well

by sinequanon



Series: tiny avengers [13]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Hurt Tony Stark, M/M, Multiverse, Self-Sacrificing Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:28:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26717497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinequanon/pseuds/sinequanon
Summary: It's surprisingly easy to recognize the signs after the fact; or, Steve learns the truth about not-really-a-villain Tony Stark.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: tiny avengers [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1122018
Comments: 7
Kudos: 93





	the one where things are not going well

**Author's Note:**

> So, this was written years ago, back when the post-CW sentiment was at its strongest. This isn't a CW fic, but it is similar enough that I initially decided not to post it.
> 
> Actually, this probably has more in common with the comics than the movies, but considering how long it's been since I read an Avengers comic, this is likely an amalgamation of bits of information I picked up by reading other fics.
> 
> This story was a bit difficult to tag; if you have mental health issues, you might want to skip this one, though.

It wasn’t that Steve had never heard about the concept of the multiverse before. Tony had ranted about it on more than one occasion—usually after coming into contact with Reed Richards—but the so-called man out of time had relegated the theory to the realm of “science problem” the first time he’d heard it, and hadn’t really thought of it beyond that.

It was an idea best left to Tony and Bruce, and only considered when absolutely necessary.

Looking at the pale body in the bed in front of him, Steve thought that “necessary” was a point that they should have reached long ago.

Intellectually, Steve knew that there was nothing he could have done to prevent them from reaching this point. Tony was an excellent actor, and they had seen what he wanted them to see. He’d easily used the other Avengers’ assumptions about his textbook narcissism and greed against them. They’d all too easily bought into Tony’s public persona (while somehow managing to ignore everything that the genius had done for them in private) and it shamed Steve to think of how quickly they had all accepted the idea that Tony had turned against them in the time it took the man to put his master plan into motion. 

Even now, Steve could remember the devil-may-care grin that had been on Tony’s face when they had confronted him about the bombings. It hadn’t slipped when Bruce had asked him for an explanation, when Natasha had shared SHIELD’s evidence against him, or when Steve had ultimately declared that Tony needed to be stopped.

(At the time, Steve had thought that the lack of reaction meant that Tony had been unmoved by their accusations. Now, he wondered just how long Tony had needed to practice the empty smile he’d flashed at them in order to get it exactly right.)

He’d do almost anything to have Tony grin at him like that again instead of sitting helplessly and wondering if the other man would ever wake up. The beeping of the machines was maddening, but it was also Steve’s only proof at the moment that the other man was still alive.

“I am so angry with you, I can hardly see straight,” he told the figure in the bed. His voice was barely audible over the din of the technology, but it wasn’t like Tony could hear him anyway. Steve squeezed the hand in his, and let himself hope for a moment that his friend would squeeze back. “If Rogers hadn’t come through that portal when he did, you would have been—” Steve broke off, unwilling to speak the rest aloud.

That was okay; his brain was perfectly willing to fill in the rest. _If Rogers hadn’t come through that portal when he did, you would have died alone in that mausoleum of a house_. _And who knows how long it would have taken the rest of us to notice,_ _because_ we left you there.

And wasn’t that the most ironic part of all? The rest of the Avengers told themselves that they were being merciful in allowing Tony to live in the mansion instead of SHIELD custody, without considering the implications of that choice.

Tony had publicly sworn after his parents died that he would avoid the mansion for the rest of his life; the Avengers had known that, and had still considered exiling Tony to the old Stark estate a kindness. _It’s better than being locked away in a cell somewhere,_ Steve remembered saying. _And maybe now you can take some time to think about where you went wrong, so you won’t make the same mistake again._

Steve had been so proud of himself for that concession; it had never even occurred to him that _Tony_ might not have been the one in the wrong.

Looking back, it was easy to see how they had been manipulated, and even easier to see how little manipulation they’d really needed to see the worst in someone they should’ve called a friend. 

Even during the worst of Tony’s villainous streak, they’d never noticed how Tony had gone out of his way to minimize the damage he caused. Exploding buildings were always inexplicably emptied beforehand ( _the regular night janitor caught that nasty flu that’s been going around, didn’t you hear?_ ), the thefts were always from people who could more than afford the loss, and the injuries...well, no one would argue that those few people who got hurt were _good_ guys.

When it had come down to it, though, they had still locked him away—alone, without even his bots for company—and just like in Afghanistan, Tony had used his time to build something out of nothing.

Except this time, that _something_ wasn’t meant to save him.

(Which was, Steve understood now, exactly what Tony had wanted; he’d needed the time and the space to build his own personal doomsday machine, and had been willing to push everyone away to accomplish that objective, regardless of of the fact that it had undoubtedly killed him a little bit more each day to be confined to his childhood home and away from the very people he wanted to protect.)

Steve hadn’t been the one to find him, of course, but he had seen the aftermath. Even after the techs had gone over everything and cleaned up as best they could, there was still a rust-colored stain where Tony had fallen. If the other him, if Rogers hadn't come through the portal exactly where Tony’s body...where Tony was—

It was a good thing that his doppelgänger and the rest of Steve’s team were all meeting with Fury, because there was no one to see the tears as they fell down his cheeks.

<> <>

It was ironic that learning all of the details and permutations of Tony’s plans was as simple as asking JARVIS.

JARVIS—who was forbidden from _offering_ the information, but who was free to answer questions when asked—gave them access to everything from the conversation logs between Tonys to the most designs for team gear that he was still working on, even in exile. 

Then there was the machine itself; though calling it a machine seemed to do both Tony and the device itself a disservice. It was about the size of one of Steve’s sketchbooks, but made of a metal so light that even Clint could hold it with one hand. At first glance, it was shaped like a pyramid, but those in the room discovered early on that not only did everyone _not_ perceive the same shape, but that it also seemed to change slightly depending on how closely someone looked at it. Where one person saw a pyramid, another saw a star, or a cube. It wasn’t an AI, according to JARVIS, but there was something about it that made the object heat to burning in the hands of SHIELD personnel, yet remain cool to the touch for the Avengers. Its inner light strobed brightly for technicians, only to settle into a warm glow when Bruce or Thor or Natasha stood next to it.

Steve had mostly stayed away from the device, but he found himself drawn to it when the labs had emptied for the evening and the nurses shooed him away from Tony's bedside. At first, he’d mostly just taken comfort in its steady glow, but he’d eventually gotten the nerve to pick it up, with the thought that maybe if he stared at it long enough, he could figure out why _Tony_ had needed it.

The moment Steve touched it, the machine flashed brightly and gave the super soldier what he'd wanted.

The Captain sat, frozen, as he watched hundreds of scenarios, each more devastating in their detail, each designed to show Tony the best way to turn the rest of the Avengers against him, the optimal time to _remove himself_ from the situation. The most efficient way to kill himself.

 _Because there was something coming,_ it showed him _, and Tony thought that they had the best chance of winning without him_.

Steve saw himself, yelling at Tony during a battle, moments before Tony made a tactical error that wasn't an error at all. _Iron Man, get back here! (If only I was interested in following orders, Captain…)_

Natasha, finding Tony standing at the edge of his tower. _You’re not thinking of jumping, are you? (Well...now that you mention it…)_

Bruce and Tony, involved in a lab explosion that the mild-mannered scientist (and Hulk) was sure to survive. ( _Pass me that tube, would you Brucie? Are you sure you want to be mixing those, Tony…)_

Over and over, the method was different, but the outcome was the same.

He recognized _the_ scenario as soon as he saw it—the distance from the team, the distractions, the exile. Steve forced himself to watch as Tony smiled through their indifference, and then again as he wandered through the halls of the Stark mansion like a ghost, all the while planning his own suicide.

Standing, Steve raised the device (to throw it, or crush it, he’d never be sure) only to have a hand grab his wrist and gently but firmly pull him back to sitting.

“My Tony made it into a ring,” Rogers said, when Steve finally focused on him. Unlike Steve, Rogers looked well-rested and fed, and it was only the familiar, haunted look in the other man's eyes that kept him from punching the guy. 

“We thought it was odd,” Rogers continued when no punch came, “considering how much he worked with his hands, but he always said he took it off when he was down in the workshop, and we had no reason not to believe him.” He chuckled mirthlessly. “When I took it off, after...it told me everything.”

It wasn't impossible (or even unlikely) that Tony would have information about a potential problem before the rest of them, but...“How do we know that there's an actual threat, and it's not just some entity that gets off on telling Tony to—trying to hurt him?” he asked with a glare. Steve was grateful to Rogers for saving Tony, but could he really trust the other man, especially when, on further consideration, they might _all_ be under the influence of whatever this thing was.

“We don't. But can we afford to risk it?”

Steve thought back over all of the scenarios that it had shown him, all of the horrible ways for Tony to die, and made a decision. It didn't matter what was coming, if Tony wasn't there to greet it with them. _That_ was the key to winning any fight: the team, together.

He set the device back on its shelf and walked out. He needed to warn the other Avengers against touching the thing, of course, but right now, he had a genius to visit.

**Author's Note:**

> I generally avoid open endings, so let me just say that I assume that things will work out eventually.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
